The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced $3.375 million in Conservation Partnership Program grants, the largest amount of funding for this program to date, for 51 not-for-profit land trusts across the state. [Read more…] about $3.375 Million in Conservation Partnership Program Grants Awarded
environment
Prison In the Woods: Environment & Incarceration in Northern NY
The Adirondacks in Northern New York covers approximately 5,000 square miles. Widely known for its natural beauty, recreation opportunities and tourism, it may surprise many of those travelers to learn that the Adirondacks’ trails and amenities are intrinsically connected to New York’s carceral history.
In A Prison In the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country (Univ. of Mass. Press, 2020), Clarence Jefferson Hall Jr. traces the planning, construction, and operation of penitentiaries in five Adirondack communities – Dannemora, Ray Brook, Gabriels, Lyon Mountain, and Tupper Lake – between 1840 and the early 2010s to show the intersections between the environment and mass incarceration.
Hall’s own personal history adds an interesting aspect to his narrative. His father worked for the New York prison system from 1973 to 1998, mostly at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. He states that “the rhythms of the prison system became natural to our family, just as they did for so many other families in towns and villages across the Adirondacks.” [Read more…] about Prison In the Woods: Environment & Incarceration in Northern NY
Recycling Electronics This Holiday Season
Many will give or receive new electronic equipment this holiday season. As you switch out of the old and welcome the new, remember to recycle your old electronics responsibly.
Examples of common electronic equipment that must be recycled: [Read more…] about Recycling Electronics This Holiday Season
A Guide to Green Gift Giving and Decorating
This is the perfect time of the year to add the environment to your gift giving list and implement simple holiday habit changes.
Here is a guide to “green” gift giving and decorating: [Read more…] about A Guide to Green Gift Giving and Decorating
Update On Grasse River Superfund Site Restoration
The Alcoa Massena-West Plant is an aluminum production plant on the north shore of the lower Grasse River. In the 1950s, Alcoa began using and discharging polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Grasse River, contaminating water and sediment. [Read more…] about Update On Grasse River Superfund Site Restoration
DEC Conservation Partnership Program Grant Awardees
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced more than $2.2 million in Conservation Partnership Program grants for 50 not-for-profit land trusts across the state. [Read more…] about DEC Conservation Partnership Program Grant Awardees
175 Organizations Launch Coalition for Environmental Funding
More than 175 groups have launched a new coalition in an effort to protect funding for environmental programs. The programs support hundreds of thousands of jobs, protect clean drinking water, create new parks, help advance environmental justice, and work to mitigate the impacts of climate change. [Read more…] about 175 Organizations Launch Coalition for Environmental Funding
Adk Regional Airport Site Added to State Superfund Registry
The New York State Superfund Program, which identifies, investigates, and works to clean up sites where the disposal of hazardous waste may be a threat to public health, has added the Adirondack Regional Airport in the Adirondack Park at Saranac Lake to New York’s Registry of State Superfund Sites. [Read more…] about Adk Regional Airport Site Added to State Superfund Registry
Local Governments Urge Governor Cuomo to Sign Road Salt Bill
Local Government leaders are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign into law a bi-partisan bill that would establish an Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force and Pilot Program.
The Randy Preston Road Salt Reduction Act (S.8663a/ A.8767a) passed the NYS Assembly unanimously and received broad bipartisan support in the NYS Senate earlier this year. Now, the bill’s fate lies in the hands of Governor Cuomo. [Read more…] about Local Governments Urge Governor Cuomo to Sign Road Salt Bill
Cohoes Chemical Incinerator Communities Being Tested For Pollution
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos and Cohoes Mayor William Keeler have announced the start of a State soil and water sampling initiative to help determine if contaminants are present in communities around the Norlite facility in the city of Cohoes.
The sampling is in response to long-standing community complaints and a recent lawsuit about chemicals being incinerated at the plant, including aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF fire-fighting foam) containing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), as well as other past practices of the facility. [Read more…] about Cohoes Chemical Incinerator Communities Being Tested For Pollution